


Interlude

by Gemfae



Series: Upside Down Verse [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aracely's Point of View, Companion to Life Turned Upside-Down, Gen, Harry Potter Has a Twin, He isn't actually a Potter, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Portrait James Potter, Portrait Lily Evans Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 20:17:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14655411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemfae/pseuds/Gemfae
Summary: Companion piece to Life Turned Upside Down. Short chapters giving Aracely's point of view





	Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This side story will contain edited chapters from the original version of "Life"; I felt like they slowed the story down, but I still want to give you some insight into Aracely's life, so I decided to post them separately. Each chapter will include a note to say which chapter in Life it corresponds to. I plan to have a few chapters from Aracely's POV leading up to her eventually meeting Hadrian (aka Harry Potter), but no guarantees on how fast I will be able to post them. I hope you enjoy! This chapter corresponds to "Life" chapter 15.

Far away in the United States…

Several hours after the scene with her family Aracely cautiously opened her bedroom door and peered out into the hallway; dinner had ended two hours ago-Brandon had been furious at her for refusing to leave her room-and the Stuart’s had left long ago. During her self-imposed solitude Aracely had come up with a plan to get out of this betrothal; everyone kept telling her that things would change and Matt would be faithful later, but she knew better than to believe that, and if she was forced to sign the betrothal contract she would have no way to get out of the marriage once she turned eighteen.  No, she had to do something now or she would be stuck with Matt for the rest of her life-or possibly his, because she had a feeling she might be driven to murder if she had to put up with him for too long.

Shaking her head to clear the thoughts away Aracely crossed her room and pressed her ear against the door before slowly opening it. The house was silent now, but she could see the light on in the room across the hall. Silently crossing the hallway she opened the door and slipped inside before quickly closing it again. As soon as she entered, Aracely was met by loud cries.

“Aracely! Bryce hit me!”

“She started it!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Okay, okay,” Aracely laughed, looking down at her younger brother and sister, “Come on guys; it’s late-no more fighting. Are you hurt Alyssa?”

“No,” Alyssa shook her head, glaring at Bryce.

“Are you hurt Bryce?”

“No,” Bryce shook his head, “It’s my turn to play the game!” Aracely shook her head; they were fighting over the video game again. Sometimes Aracely thought it was a bad thing that wizards were learning to adapt Muggle electronics to work with magic, but she had to admit she enjoyed watching the television.

“I think it’s time to turn the game off and put a movie on,” Aracely countered, ignoring the groaning and whining from her siblings; “Come on; get changed for bed.” Alyssa and Bryce grumbled but obediently changed into their night clothes; there were two screens in the room so that they could change in privacy. Alyssa and Bryce were Aracely’s half-siblings; Brandon was their father, but he didn’t seem to have much time for them unless he felt that they had done something wrong. Alyssa was ten and Bryce was eight; Alyssa was usually more well-behaved, while Bryce was always getting into trouble. A few years ago Aracely’s mom had almost broken the marriage to Brandon and spent a lot of time working and Aracely had gotten into the habit of putting her younger siblings to bed. She loved both of them, but had a soft spot for Bryce because she admired his fearlessness-even if it did result in him having a fractured wrist when he was three. All three children were magical and their family lived in a mixed community, integrating with Muggles. All magical children went to a Muggle elementary school, learning magic from their parents at home on the weekends and during school vacations. At nearly sixteen Aracely went to a Muggle high school and met with a magical tutor four days a week, the careful use of a timer-turner allowing her enough time to complete both her Muggle and magical assignments.

Aracely was drawn out of her thoughts as Alyssa and Bryce finished changing and ran over to the shelf full of movies.

“I’m choosing tonight,” Aracely announced before they could start fighting again, “I want to watch…” She paused as she considered the options; it needed to be a movie they would both watch. “Let’s watch Aladdin.” Alyssa and Bryce both looked at her consideringly for a moment before nodding their agreement. Aracely put the movie in and then tucked her siblings in while the previews were playing.

“I might have to go see Papa soon,” Aracely told them, “So if I do have to leave, try not to give Mama a hard time, okay?”

“I want to see Granny and Papa too!” Alyssa protested, “I miss Daren!” Daren was their older brother-seventeen this year-who moved in with their grandparents four years ago after deciding he didn’t want to live with Brandon anymore; it was one of the reasons Aracely didn’t like Brandon-he chased her older brother away.

“You’ll get to go soon too,” Aracely assured them, “I don’t even know when I’m going yet. Come on; let’s watch the movie.”

Aracely stayed in the bedroom until Alyssa and Bryce fell asleep; she turned the TV to the music channel and quietly left the room. She noticed the light was on in the den and frowned; that could interfere with her plan, depending on who was in there. Moving quietly she peeked around the doorframe and saw her mom sitting by the window.

“Mama?” She called softly, and Elena looked up at her with a small smile.

“I knew you would be up,” Elena said, “Come sit down.” Aracely made her way across the room and took a seat next to her mom on the couch. Elena summoned a house elf to get them each a glass of sweet tea before speaking.

“I know you’re not happy about what happened tonight,” Elena began, “but…you remember when Brandon and I separated for a year?” Aracely nodded, “I never told you this before, but he almost got custody of Alyssa and Bryce.”

“Is that why you didn’t divorce him?” Aracely questioned, “I remember you were happy when we stayed with Granny and Papa; you and Annalise went out on the weekends a lot and we got to spend time with Allyn. I always wondered why you decided to go back.”

“I couldn’t lose Alyssa and Bryce, especially with them being so young,” Elena confirmed, “I had to agree that I would not try to divorce him again, and I had to agree to let him choose spouses for you and Daren or he wouldn’t let you stay with us. Daren found out and-”

“That’s why he stayed with Granny and Papa!” Aracely exclaimed, “He tried to get me to stay too, but I didn’t want to leave you and Alyssa and Bryce. But…can’t Papa overrule him? Brandon never adopted me, so he isn’t the head of my family, right?”

“You are technically right,” Elena nodded, “but since he is caring for you then you do owe him respect. I know you don’t want to be with Matt, but I really think things will work out. Like I said before, he’s young; he won’t be unfaithful to you once you have signed the betrothal papers.”

“So I have until my birthday,” Aracely sighed, “Wait; if I go see Papa before then-”

“Brandon said to tell you that you are grounded,” Elena interrupted, “You aren’t allowed to visit Granny and Papa until after your birthday. Your portkey has been deactivated, and so has the floo in your room. You are not allowed to use the mirrors either.” Aracely opened her mouth to protest, but Elena continued, “You can, however, contact Liana and Althea; they both have an arranged marriage as well so maybe they can help you cope.”

“I don’t need help coping,” Aracely glared at her mom, “I won’t marry Matt, and you can’t make me! I’ll let you disown me before that happens!”

“Calm down,” Elena said, “You still have a couple years, and who knows what can happen in that time? I’ll talk to Brandon for you; you should go to bed.”

“I’m not tired,” Aracely pouted. Elena just gave her a rueful smile before standing and kissing the top of her head.

“Don’t stay out here too late,” she cautioned, “You know Brandon gets up early for work, and he doesn’t like for you to be up too late.”

“I’ll be gone long before he gets up,” Aracely promised, “G’nite Mom; I love you.”

“I love you too,” Elena replied, “and don’t worry about the future so much, okay?” Aracely nodded and watched as her mom left the room. She waited a few minutes to make sure Elena wasn’t coming back and then hurried over to the curio cabinet; sure enough the door was unlocked and she found what she was looking for at the back of the bottom shelf. Aracely picked up the slim silver box and quickly put it in her pocket before leaving the den and returning to her bedroom.

Once back in her room Aracely made quick work of packing her trunk; it was one that Papa had given her for her birthday several years ago, expandable and with many secret compartments. Aracely packed all of her clothes as well as many of her personal belongings before going over to her desk and opening the drawer; after removing the contents she felt around until she was able to remove the false bottom, underneath which were several items she didn’t allow anyone to see. First, were the letters from Cameron; they had dated briefly the year before and he was the first boy Aracely fell in love with. There were several notebooks that had been written in and passed back and forth between Aracely and her two best friends, Liana and Althea; if their parents ever found these notebooks the girls knew they would all be in big trouble, as they used them to write about all of their schemes and plans for the future. There were several magical items given to her by her grandfather, and beneath that was a stack of journals that Aracely was unable to open; Papa had told her she would be able to read them on her sixteenth birthday. Aracely added all of these items to her trunk, and then took the silver box out of her pocket.

After examining it for several moments she smiled triumphantly; there were no wards on the box! Upon opening it, she reverently took out the single item inside-it was a wand, 10 inches made of ebony with a Phoenix feather core. When she had turned eleven Papa had taken her to Gryffin’s Way, the Wizarding District for the south east United States, where she had selected her wand. It had been extremely exciting to walk into the doorway of a shop in the United States and wind up in Ollivanders’ Wand Shop in London; Ollivander had been slightly creepy, going on about secrets and such, but the thrill of finally choosing her wand-or rather, being chosen by her wand-had more than made up for it. Unfortunately, as soon as she arrived home every summer she was required to put her wand away where her siblings would not be able to reach it, and only allowed to take it out when her mom was in the room. She was supposed to be able to keep her wand with her at all times starting on her sixteenth birthday, but she doubted Brandon would allow that after what happened tonight.

No mater, Aracely decided as she slipped her wand into the wrist holster she was already wearing; after tonight Brandon wouldn’t be able to tell her what to do anymore. Aracely walked over to the full-length mirror standing in the corner and pressed her hand against the wooden frame, over the image of the Pruitt Crest. When the mirror began to glow, she whispered, “Liana.” The mirror became obscured by mist for a moment, before a different room appeared in the reflection. On the bed in the other room was a girl with long, dark hair, who was facing the opposite wall.

“Liana!” Aracely called softly, and the other girl jumped up in surprise before turning to face the mirror with a bright smile.

“Ari!” Liana said excitedly, “I didn’t think I’d hear from you tonight; Brandon told Mom about grounding you because of the arranged-marriage-thing, and she was pissed! You should have heard her yelling at him in Korean!” Aracely couldn’t help laughing along with her friend at the thought of Brandon getting yelled at by Liana’s mom-who was less than five feet tall, but still incredibly scary at times. Liana’s mom was Korean while her father was Caucasian, and Liana had her mother’s long, thick black hair and brown eyes, but her facial features were a softer version of her fathers.

“I’m surprised she yelled at him though,” Aracely said once they had calmed down, “Didn’t she set up an arranged marriage for you too?”

“Yeah, but Edgar hasn’t cheated on me,” Liana pointed out, “Plus, she is willing to cancel the contract if I can find someone better; Edgar is basically her backup plan to make sure that I give her grandkids someday.” The girls shared another laugh before Aracely turned serious again.

“Lia-I’m leaving tonight,” she announced, “Brandon refuses to rethink the betrothal, and he’s even forcing Papa to name someone else as his heir; I won’t let that happen. You know I love Allyn, but he wouldn’t know how to run the family-he’s always been spoiled and he lets his mom tell him what to do on everything.”

“He’s only fourteen,” Liana pointed out, “He’s supposed to listen to his mom.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Aracely giggled and Liana responded by sticking out her tongue, “But you know what I mean; he would let his mom take over our family if Papa named him as the heir and…we’d just lose a lot of our histories and traditions.”

“So you’re going to your grandparents house?” Liana questioned and Aracely nodded, “How will you get there?”

“Family secrets,” Aracely replied, “Evidently Brandon sealed off the mirror so that I can’t talk to Granny and Papa through it, but he doesn’t know everything Papa taught me-neither does Mama. I feel bad about leaving-especially Alyssa and Bryce-but I just can’t stay here.”

“I understand,” Liana said, “Did you call me to see if I want to go too?” Aracely nodded again and Liana grinned, “Thanks for thinking of me, but I’m okay here. If things change I still have the portkey your grandpa gave me.”

“Okay,” Aracely said, “I still need to call Althea too; I don’t know when I’ll be able to talk to you again, so just be careful, okay? Matt will probably blame you and Thea for me leaving.”

“I’m not scared of him,” Liana replied, “I’ll get Dean to kick his ass; or Tom-Tom and Ben-you know they don’t like Matt either.” Dean was Liana’s older brother, while Tom-Tom and Ben (really Tomas and Benito, wizards from northern Mexico who went to school with them) were friends with the girls; Tom-Tom and Ben were always nice to them, but wouldn’t hesitate to hex someone who hurt their friends.

“Just make sure you send me a copy of the memory,” Aracely smiled, “I’ll try to mirror call again in a few days; if not I still have my journal with me.”

“Okay,” Liana said brightly, “Tell Granny and Papa I said hi. Be careful, ‘kay Ari? You know you aren’t just my best friend; you’re my sister-you and Thea.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Aracely replied, “Bye Lia!” She ended the mirror call quickly, and then proceeded to contact Althea, but the mirror remained dark; Althea’s parents must have put a block on it. Aracely looked at the mirror thoughtfully for a moment before sighing; she really wanted to talk to Althea as well, but she was afraid to wait too much longer to leave-she wanted to be gone before Brandon got up for work, which meant she only had twenty minutes. Biting her lip uncertainly Aracely finally came to a decision and moved over to her trunk, closing it and locking it before pressing on a certain spot which activated the shrinking charm so she could place it in her pocket. Next, Aracely sat down at her desk and wrote her mom a quick letter, charming it so that it would appear on the bathroom mirror when her mom woke up in the morning. With everything else taken care of, Aracely picked up the small dagger off her desk and moved back over to the mirror. Staring at her reflection Aracely drew the dagger across the palm of her hand, making a shallow cut before pressing the hand to the mirror.

“Aperto il via1,” she said, and the glass began to shimmer, “Mostrare me il sentiero alla2…Pruitt Estate.” Most pureblood families had a specific language they used for their spells, and the Pruitt family used Italian; Brandon’s family spells were spoken in German. By using the family spells, underage magic became undetectable; not that they could detect it anyway, since she lived in a wizarding household. When she completed the spell the mirror shimmered for a few more moments before the glass vanished completely, and Aracely was looking into a familiar study. With a bright smile she eagerly stepped through the mirror, happily leaving Brandon, Matt and the hopelessness of an arranged marriage behind.

******************

It wasn’t until she stepped through the glass that Aracely remembered she would have to traverse the mirror path to reach her destination; the mirror path could be confusing for someone not used to it, but luckily Aracely had travelled it several times last summer with her grandfather and was able to avoid the tricks and traps. After stepping into the mirror in her bedroom she found herself in a maze of mirrors; since she had stated her destination clearly the maze should take her directly to her grandparents’ home, however there were subtle traps that anyone not familiar with the mirror path would be caught in. The key was to avoid looking into the mirrors; you had to look _at_ them without looking _in_ them. The first section of the maze simply reflected back different paths; from the corner of her eye Aracely saw that the scenery in the mirrors was that of a beautiful garden in the summertime. Her grandfather had told her of people who had fallen into the image in the mirrors and been trapped forever.

The second section of the maze still showed beautiful scenery, but now there were people in the reflections. She saw dark curly hair and heard a laugh that sounded like Althea’s, then she heard Liana the sound of a soft rainfall; she and Liana always enjoyed being out in the summer rain where they could talk about anything without worrying about their families listening in-Althea joined them on occasion, but the rain caused her hair to frizz up so usually it was just Aracely and Liana. She caught a glimpse of a family sitting around a table, laughing and enjoying dinner together followed by many other scenes that reflected her dreams and desires. She never stopped to look properly, not even when they called her name, because she knew if she stepped up to the mirrors she would be pulled in and trapped forever.

The final section of the maze was the most difficult for most people-the reflections here showed your worst fears and tempted you with your darkest desires. The reflections in the section were the angry souls of people who had become trapped in the maze, and they had more power than the other reflections-they could actually leave their mirrors and come after you. Aracely took a calming breath before entering the dark section of the maze and released her wand from its holster; she would need to access it quickly if any of the images came after her. In this section she had to still avoid looking into the mirrors; images would likely follow her and she must be careful never to look at them, for she knew that if she looked directly at any of the escaped reflections they would be able to capture her, and then she would be trapped within the maze forever, doomed to torment future travelers of the maze path. Well, after years of torture that is-she would suffer from her own personal hell, which is what would turn her into a vengeful spirit, a fate she had no wish to experience.

When she felt she was ready Aracely stepped into the dark section and looked straight ahead, casting a silent spell to illuminate the correct path with a faint golden light that would be invisible to the vengeful spirits. Soon after she entered the dark section she heard footfalls behind her; they were keeping pace with her, but far back. She knew better than to look over her shoulder, even when she heard the soft whisper of her name. From all around her came seductive whispers promising power and prestige; voices whispered their desire to help her get revenge upon her enemies and make Matt pay for his treatment of her. The voices whispered of secrets and betrayal, offering to show her the truth. Through all of this Aracely continued to look at the golden light illuminating her way, not even glancing at the mirrors; she was still aware, however, of the footsteps behind her and it sounded like they were closer.

Unable to tempt her, the voices changed; now they accuse her of betrayal; one voice sounded like her mom, crying because Aracely left, and then she heard Alyssa and Bryce crying for her. Liana was cursing her because Matt hurt her for letting Aracely leave. Her grandfather was telling her that she was not worthy of being his heir and was to be exiled from the family, still she looked ahead, her heart rate increasing as the footsteps behind her definitely sounded closer and she realized with horror that she had forgotten to wear the amulet identifying her as being the heir; Papa had told her that until she reached her majority and started taking over some of the family responsibilities she had to make sure to wear the amulet otherwise she would be in danger from the mirror path. As the voices changed again, whispering to her of horrors and promises of pain and torment, the footsteps increased in speed once again and she fought to remain calm as she tried to remember what her grandfather had said about the danger.

He had said that before their family came to the United States there was a set of twin boys, and both had been trained as heirs; to determine who would be the true heir they undertook a test on their seventeenth birthday. Both twins had been taught about the mirror maze, but neither had been taken into it; for their test both twins were sent into the maze at the same time and the first twin to arrive at the destination would be named the heir-the heir would then be responsible for returning to the maze to ensure that his sibling emerged safely. It was the youngest twin who completed the maze first, but when it was time for him to return to the maze and help his brother he plead exhaustion; Damien was strong, he said, and would be alright while he took a nap. His father agreed, and Gabriel did not return for his twin until the next morning.

What none of the family knew, was that Gabriel had always been jealous of his older brother; although they had both been trained as heir Damien had been betrothed to the girl Gabriel loved, and he was also to receive a larger share of their fathers inheritance. Damien was also the cleverer of the two and was more gifted magically, and it had just been assumed that he would solve the maze first. When the twins had begun travelling the maze, Gabriel followed his brother and when they reached the last section of dark mirrors he gave into the dark whispers around him and pushed his brother into a mirror, trapping him for eternity.

When Gabriel returned to the maze his brother had not yet given into the darkness in the mirror and Gabriel could have pulled him out-Damien even promised not to tell anyone what his twin had done-but Gabriel refused. He laughed at his brother and told him that he would never escape; when he realized that Gabriel was not going to help him Damien cursed him-he swore that he would forever stalk Gabriel anytime he entered the mirror maze, and that as soon as Gabriel named an heir he would take his revenge.

For years Damien tormented his brother every time he entered the maze, and the threats began to make Gabriel uneasy. He married his brother’s former betrothed, and they had four children together. For several years Gabriel avoided the mirror maze, but when the day came for his heir, his eldest son, to traverse the maze, the boy never returned. Gabriel went in after his son, and found he had been captured by Damien, who had managed to escape the mirror prison; he was still trapped within the maze, but now he could roam the dark paths at will. Damien’s years spent trapped in the mirror had warped him, and now all he desired was revenge on the brother who had betrayed him. Damien told Gabriel’s son what Gabriel had done to him, and said that the family would pay for allowing it. Gabriel was able to distract Damien long enough for his son to escape; when the boy returned from the mirror maze he had a small section of mirror with him, which replayed the confrontation between Damien and Gabriel. In the end, Damien overpowered his brother and trapped him within the mirror, sentencing him to eternal torment; Damien was the strongest spirit within the mirror maze, and as such Gabriel would not be released unless he ordered it.

From that moment on the names Gabriel and Damien were both forbidden to be used by the family; Gabriel had betrayed his brother out of jealousy and, as an evil spirit, if a baby in their family was ever named Damian the spirit could possess the child and escape his prison to enact his vengeance upon the world. The piece of mirror was used to create four protective amulets; Damien had said that he would not attack any heirs wearing the amulet, but any who came into the maze unprotected did so at their own risk.

And now, Aracely had stupidly entered the maze with only the protection of her wand, and the footsteps-Damien-were close behind her. She wanted to run-oh! How she wanted to run!-but she knew that if she gave into the panic he would capture her; there was a rumor that Damien was not only seeking revenge, but also companionship, which is why there had only been male heirs in the family-until her grandfather had decided to flout tradition and name her his heir. What would be worse-eternal torment, or being turned evil and spending eternity with a vengeful ancestor for companionship? Aracely did not intend to find out.

As the footsteps continued to close in, Aracely tightened her grip on her wand, and quickly cast a protections ward. The ward was stationary and would not last for long, but she only needed a few moments. Aracely pulled her trunk out of her pocket and quickly searched through the contents until she came to the box that held her mirror amulet. As she slipped the lid off the box, the ward flickered and Aracely knew she was seconds away from being caught by her angry ancestor. Her fingers fumbled, but she managed to grab the chain the amulet was strung on and quickly clasped it around her neck. A pale blue circle of protective magic surrounded her, and she sighed in relief. Aracely shrunk her trunk again, and heard and angry hiss and the words; “Next time, Aracely”. The ominous feeling that had been plaguing Aracely dispersed, and she was able to continue on her way unhindered by the spirit.

Only a few minutes later, Aracely reached the end of the path and stepped through the mirror into her grandfather’s study. Looking around she saw that the room was empty, but above the fireplace a dark haired man was looking down at her worriedly from his portrait.

“Hello, Uncle James,” Aracely said cheerfully, “Don’t worry about me; I’m fine…just…fine…” She felt the darkness closing in and heard James call for her grandfather’s house elf, then she knew no more.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> 1Aperto il via=Open the way
> 
> 2Mostrare me il sentiero alla=Show me the path to the
> 
> AN: I used Google translator; I do not speak Italian, so if the translation is off I apologize. The only language-other than English-that I know is Spanish and I only know a very little of that, and I just really wanted to use Italian here. As for some of the things going on with Aracely-JKR didn’t tell us really anything about witches and wizards in North America, so I am using my creative license quite a bit here. I figure the US was created on an ideal of equality, and so in my vision the magical and Muggle communities mix more in the US, but the Statute of Secrecy is still upheld; basically, the magical community in the US encourages mingling so that there is a better understanding of Muggles, and the reward is more opportunities to examine electronics and figure out how they work so that they can be converted to work with magic.


End file.
